Gun-carriage.



PATENTED AUG. 6, 1907. S. N. MGGLEAN.

GUN CARRIAGE.

A PPLIGATION FILED AUG. 3. 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

S. N. MOGLEAN. GUN CARRIAGE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-3. 1905.

PATENTED AUG. 6, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHBIJT 2.

I I 3 m 7 V WW flww, W; j

Quito 1252x 61 SAMUEL N. McCLEAN, OF LEVELAND, OHIO.

GUN-CARRIAGE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 6, 1907.

Application filed August 3,1905. Serial No. 272,598.

land, Ohio, have invented a new and useful lmprovement in Gun-Carriages, which invention is fully set forth in th e following specification.

This invention relates to improvements in gun-carriages and has for its object to increase the steadiness and firing action of the gun.

When a field gun, mounted upon a wheeled-carriage, is discharged, and particularly when discharge-actuated automatic field-guns are fired, it is highly essential that the carriage should remain practically stationary, and that the elevating, depressing and traversing devices should remain absolutely in the positions to which they have been adjusted by the gunner, in order that the aim of the gun may not be disturbed -by the jarring action due to rapid and continuous firing.

The object of the present invention is to provide means whereby the wheels supporting the carriage shall be practically immovable during the discharge of the gun, and the elevating, depressing and traversing mechanisms shall hold the gun fixedly in the position to which they may have been adjusted by the gunner.

With this object in view, the invention resides in a gun-carriage provided with elevating, depressing and traversing mechanisms, combined with means for placing a tension or binding action upon the mechanism such that they cannot be jarred or moved from their adjusted position by the guns discharge: moreover, the invention consists of a wheeled-gun-carriage provided with means acted upon by the force of the guns discharge for causing the wheels to bind upon their axles to such an extent that they practically shall not move or shake thereon, cooperating with which means is a suitable spade on the trail of the gun for also resisting the tendency of the carriage to move rearward under the force of discharge.

Still more specifically stated, the invention consists of a wheeled gun-carriage provided with the usual or any other suitable trail, elevating, depressing and traversing mechanism, and devices connected to the trail for causing the wheels to bind upon their axles, and the elevating, depressing and training mechanisms to also bind in their action so that the action of discharge shall not disturb them from their adjusted positions. This binding action of the wheels and of the elevating, depressing and training mechanism is secured by placing said wheels and mechanisms under a tension or strain tending to cause the binding action.

The invention also consists in certain minor details, such as the specific construction of the spades upon which the wheels rest, and the means for supporting the same upon the carriage when not in use, as well as the construction of the spade at the rear end of the trail, all

of which will be more particularly described hereinafter.

The inventive idea involved may be expressed in a variety of mechanical structures, and, for the purpose of illustration. one of such structures is Shown in the accompanying drawing, in which 7 V Figure l is a broken side elevation of the carriage with the gun mounted thereon, one of the wheels being partly broken away to disclose the structure more clearly; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. l 1 Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of the bracket for supporting the wheels and spades when not in use; Fig. 4 is broken side clevation showing the elevating and depressing screws with means for placing a strain or tension thereon; Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the construction of the means for imposing strain upon the elevating, dcpressing and traversing mechanisms, and Figs. 6, 7, S and 9 are detailed illustrations of the parts of the structure shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 10 is a sectional view illustrating the specific construction of the elevating and depressing screw, and the traversing screw, and Fig. 11 is a perspective view of said screws.

Referring to the drawing, 1 is the axle of the carriage mounted on wheels 2 and 3, which may be of the usual or any suitable construction, 4 is the trail of the carriage in the usual or any other suitable form, having the two cheeks whose upper ends are suitably connected to the axle 1, and whose lower ends are secured to spade 5. The spade 5 has a blade 6 designed to enter the ground, and has a rearwardly projecting bracket or surface 7 designed, when the spade G is inserted in the ground. to rest upon the surface of the ground and limit the further entrance of the point 6. The traversing screw 8, Figs. 10 and 11, is preferably in the form of a rod suitably supported in brackets 9 and 10, depending from the cheeks 4 4 of the carriage. This rod is screw-threaded preferably only on one end, while the other end remains plain and is free to slide in the bracket 9. Engaging the screw-threaded end 8 is a nut 11 mounted to turn in, but without longitudinal movement through the bracket. 10. For the purpose of preventing longitudinal movement, the nut 11 is provided with a flange 12 on one end and has secured thereto, by a screw 13, a hand-wheel 14 on the other end. so that the depending bracket 10 is fitted snugly between the flange 12 on the nut and the flanged wheel 14. all as will be readily understood from an inspection of Fig. 10. The traversing screw 8 has secured thereto. and preferably formed integrally therewith, a screw-threaded socket l5, and projecting rearward from said socket is a lever-arm 1G. The screw-threaded socket l5 acts as a nut for the elevating and depressing screw. This screw is preferably a compound screw whose structure is specifically shown in Figs. 10 and ll; the screw 17 entering the nut 15 is exteriorly threaded,

will be observed that when the screw I7 is operated by the hand-wheel the effect will be to either elevate or depress the same through the nut 15, and, by reason of the fact that the threads of the screw 18 are the reverse of the tln'eads on the screw 17, the revolutions of the latter screw for operating it to move in a downward direction will cause it to act as a nut and draw the screw 18 also downward. This enables the gunner to either rapidly elevate or depress the gun, and also to effect an elevating or depressing adjustment with very great nicety.

Provision is made for exerting a downward pressure upon the rear end of the lever 16 attached to socket-nut l5 so as to cause said socket-nut to tend to shift from its position of alinement with the screws 17 and 18, thereby placing a binding tension upon said screws and rendering the movement of the screw 17 in the socket 15, or the screw 18 in the screw 17, so diflicult that they will remain practically immovable under shocks or jars incident to the dischargerof the gun. For the purpose of exerting this downward tension or pressure upon the rear end of lever 16 there is provided a tension device, best illustrated in Figs. 5 to E), inclusive. Suspended from the cheeks 4 of the trail, and to the rear of the traversing screw, is a pair of brackets 21 22, Fig. 5, which are preferably connected, as by cross-bar 23, leaving a medial space between said brackets which is occupied by a boxing 24, whose detailed construction is best shown in Figs. 6 and 7. This boxing, as shown, is open on its upper side, and is provided on its lower side with a rib 25 bearing directly upon the lever 16, see Figs. 4 and 5. This boxing 24 is provided with inwardly projecting inclined ribs 26, 26, preferably two upon each side, which ribs enter into similarly inclined slots 27, 27, formed in the exterior walls of the nut 28 on screw 29 mounted to turn in, but without longitudinal movement, through the depending brackets 21, 22 upon the cheeks of the trail. Hand-wheel 30 is provided for operating said screw, and the keying of this hand-wheel snugly at one end of the screw and a collar snugly fitting against the other end of the screw restrains it against longitudinal movement through the brackets. The boxing 24 is of such length as to exactly fit in between the brackets 21 and 22, so that while it is free to move up and down between said brackets, it is not capable of having any other movement. The nut 28 on the screw 29 on the other hand is capable of longitudinal movement between the cheeks 21 and 22, and when such movement is imparted to the nut by the revolutions of screw 29, the boxing 24, and with it its rib 25, is elevated or depressed by reason of the engagement of the ribs 26, 26, in the slots 27, 27 on the nut, and the end of lever 16 is depressed or permitted to rise depending upon the direction of revolution of screw 29.

When the traversing screw is operated so as to throw the rear end of the gun, and consequently the socketnut 15 carrying the elevating and depressing screws to one side or the other of its medial position shown in Fig. 10, the lever-arm 16 will be moved also from the medial position, thus varying the relation between the lever 16 and the rib 25 on the bottom of box 24. To compensate for this variation the rib 25 is formed on an arc of great radius, so that it tapers very slightly from the medial portion thereof towards the ends, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 5 and 7. Referring to Fig. 2, 32 and 33 are spades provided with blade portions for entering the ground and substantially horizontal shelf-like portions resting on the surface of the ground, said spades being provided with reinforcing ribs, if desired, at their backs for lending additional strength thereto. These spades are adjusted at an angle to the vertical plane of wheels 2 and 3 and are preferably provided with channels upon their top for the reception of the wheels, the outward wall of the channels being lower than the inward walls in order that the Wheel may readily find its place when the same is being adjusted in the channel. Connected to the spades 32, 33 are the bars 34-, 35, respectively, which bars are turned inward at an angle and are pivotally connected by universal joints 36, 37 to suitable cross-pieces extending between the cheeks of the trail, here shown as the traversing screw 8, the supports for the joints 36, 37 being formed by means of bracket sleeves surrounding the traversing screw, as will be understood from an inspection of Fig. 2. By reason of the universal joints 36, 37, the arms 34, 35, and with them the spades 32, 33, may be swung around from the position shown in Fig. 2 and elevated so as to rest in brackets 38, 39, this being the position which the spades occupy when not in use.

One of the brackets, as for example the bracket 39, is shown in enlarged detail in Fig. 3 with the spadearm 35 resting thereon, a spring-pressed retaining-lug 40 cooperating with the bracket to hold the arm yieldingly in position in the bracket. When the spades are in use the arms are lowered out of the brackets 38, 39 and are placed upon the ground in the position shown in Fig. 2 with the wheels resting in the channels 41 and 42, as shown in Fig. 2. When the gun is fired any rearward movement imparted to the trail has a tendency to cause spades 32 33 to move inward, or toward each other, thereby drawing inward the bottom portions of the wheels 2 and 3, and the tension thus placed upon the wheels causes them to bind upon their axles in such way as to practically prevent movement or shaking of the wheels on the axle. It may be added that the spades 6, 32 and 33 may be either forcibly driven into the ground into extreme position by the gunners before the gun is fired, or reliance may be placed upon the first few shots to effect the entrance of the spades in the ground, and that the inclined position of the spades 32, 33 enables them not only to place the wheels under tension in the manner above described, but also offer an effective resistance against the tendency of the whole structure to move rearward, this in addition to the resistance offered by the spade at the rear end of the trail.

In operation the gunner adjusts the elevating and depressing and the traversing screws to the position to properly aim the gun, and then by operating handwheel 30 causes the nut 28 to move in such a direction as to force box 24, and with it its rib 25 downward upon the end of lever 16, thereby depressing it and placing such tension upon the traversing and elevating and l depressing screws as to cause them to bind in the manner above described, and hence to remain practically in the position to which they have previously been adjusted.

When the gun is fired, the tension placed upon the wheels also causes the binding action of the wheels upon the axle, and it results that there is a very effective rigid structure obtained which takes in the gun in its cradle, the axle, the Wheels, the trail, the spade arms, the T-litVGlSln elevating and depressing screws, and the lever 1G, so that the whole structure is placed under a severe tension, causing a binding action of all the parts and rendering the carriage practically rigid. This rigidity at the instant when the strain is placed upon the carriage, effectively prevents movement of any of the parts or of the carriage as a whole, and thus maintains great practical steadiness in tiring action and accuracy of aim.

What is claimed is:-

it In a gun carriage. the combination of means for applying power to elevate and traverse the gun. with dc vices placing said means under tension whereby said means are held relalivt-dy immovable upon the discharge of the gun.

2. In a gun carriage, the combination of the trail. means tor applying power to elevate and traverse the gun, with dev placing said means under tension whereby said mean. are held relatively immovable upon the discharge of the gun.

:i. in gun carriage, the combination of means for up plying power to elevate and traverse the gun, the trail supporting the same, with devices for placing said means under tension. the carriage-wheels and tension devices engaging the wheels and connected to the trail.

l. In a gun rriage. the combination of elevating and traversing devices connected to the gun, with means simultaneously placing said devices under tension. whereby said dev s are held relatively immovable on the discharge of the gun.

5. In a gun carriage. the combination of the trail. elevating and traversing devices connected to the gun and the trail, with means simultaneously placing said devices under tension. whereby said devices are held relatively inn movable on the gun's discharge.

6. In a gun carriage, the combination of elevating and traversing devices, the trail supporting the same, means simultaneously placing said devices under tension. the car riage wheels. and tension devices engaging the wheels and connected to the trail.

7. In a gun carriage, the combination of the wheels and axle. the trail connected to the axle, the elevating and traversing devices supported on the trail and connected to the gun. means supported on the trail and placing the ele rating and traversing devices under tension. and means connected to the trail and placing the wheels under tension when the gun is tired.

S. In a gun carriage. the combination of the wheels, the axle, and the trail, with rearwardly facing and inwardly inclined spades engaging the wheels, and arms secured to the spades and pivotally connected to the trail.

E). in a gun carriage, the combination of the wheels, the axle. and the trail, with rearwardly facing inwardly inclined spades engaging the wheels, arms .secured to the spades and pivotally connected to the trail. and spade sup ports on the carriage for carrying the spades when not in use.

in. In a gun carriage, the combination of the wheels. trail and axle. with rearwardly facing inwardly inclined spades. arms secured to the spades and pivoted to the trail. supporting brackets for said arms. and retaining de vices cooperating with said brackets to engage and supp rl said arms.

11. In a gun carriage. the combination of the wheels. axle and trail, with the elevating device. connected to the gun. the traversing device supported on the trail and carrying the elevating device, and means simultaneously placing said elevating and traversing devices under ten sion.

111. The combination of the elevating screw connected to the gun. the screw-socket therefor, the traversing screw carrying said socket. the tension lever connected to said socket. and a pressure element bearing on said lever to place the elevating and traversing screws under tension.

13. The combination of the elevating and traversing devices. the lever connected thereto, the tension device hearing on the lever. the spades supporting the wheels, the arms connecting the spades to the trail, with the axle, the wheels and the trail.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL N. MctLEAN.

Witnesses .losnru \VnnnLnu, Omvnn llunmrrr. 

